Lebanon native is town’s new public works director

LEBANON — Brandon Handfield is the new director of public works and town engineer in Lebanon. Handfield took some time last week to talk about his job, experience and upcoming projects in the town.

Q: What is your background and when did you start your position as public works director?

A: I graduated from the University of Hartford in 2000 with a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering. During college I worked for Anchor Engineering Services Inc. in Glastonbury, as an intern and then continued full time after graduation as a civil engineer. I started as the director of public works and town engineer for Lebanon on Sept. 30.

Q: What attracted you to the Lebanon public works job?

A: There is a long list of items that attracted me to this position. For most of my career at Anchor, I worked with many municipalities in Connecticut, including Lebanon, as the on-call town engineer. During that time I was able to work directly with town leaders, public works departments, members of the public and local contractors to design and implement practical, cost effective solutions for infrastructure improvement projects. I found this work to be rewarding and felt that transitioning to the public works side of the table full-time would be a great fit. I grew up and currently live in Lebanon. More importantly, I am invested in this community and care about our future. The public works department plays an important role in that future and I wanted to build on the processes already in place and continue to advance the department.

Q: What projects is the department working on?

A: Short-term, we will be wrapping up paving activities for the season and rehabilitating our dirt roads in preparation for winter. Long-term, we will be assessing the conditions of all of our roads, culverts, bridges and public facilities in order to prepare a plan for maintenance, rehabilitation or replacement. Our initial focus will be on maintaining the infrastructure that is in good condition to maximize the service life and minimize capital costs for replacement.

Q: How is the department getting ready for winter, and what kinds of resources does it have at its disposal (equipment and people)?

A: Internally, we reviewed the historical plow routes and prepared alternative plans in order to quickly adapt to differing weather conditions or personnel changes. In addition, we have prepared our trucks, plows and sanding equipment and stockpiled our salt/sand mix in preparation for the winter season. We have a crew of eight with full-size plow trucks and sanders and a list of on-call drivers for additional coverage.

Q: What’s the biggest improvement the department could make that would help it the most? What do you hear from people in town that they’d like to see?

A: At this point, we are still evaluating current department processes and capabilities to see where improvements can be made. This process will take some time. In the short term, we will be making some minor improvements to the department facility and upgrading safety equipment. The town officials and residents have been very supportive of our mission to improve the department.